At The End of the Day
by xAlex-Drakex
Summary: 'At the end of the day, I'm the one left holding the baby.' What if Quinn wasn't the Glee Clubber who was pregnant? And what if one of the teens wasn't the father? From Rachel's POV. RachelxWill RachelxPuck friendship.
1. 3 Weeks

At The End of the Day

Summary: 'At the end of the day, I'm the one left holding the baby.' What if Quinn wasn't the Glee Clubber who was pregnant? And what if one of the teens wasn't the father? From Rachel's POV. RachelxWill RachelxPuck friendship.

AN: This is my first Glee fanfic so I'd love it if you could R&R and drop me some constructive criticism if you feel the need. I know there's a lot of RachelxPuck in this chapter but more RachelxWill next chapter, promise!

Chapter 1- 3 Weeks

'_Dear Diary,_

_I'm so scared. I just found out I'm pregnant, three weeks to be exact. I don't know what to do or who to talk to, but writing down my feelings may help me to process the situation, so here goes. I've been seeing the father of the baby for just short of two months and he's a married man, trapped in a loveless marriage. I don't know how he's going to react. He's a really decent guy but I shouldn't be seeing him, we could both get into a lot of trouble if anyone finds out. It started off as just sex; we were both in a bad place and kind of depended upon the relationship we shared. But the more we started seeing each other, the more we realised we actually had feelings for each other, which I guess means I am having an affair with him. But ultimately whether he is happy or not, he's married, and he's my teacher. God I've screwed up so bad!'_

I stop writing, throwing my pen aside, lying back on my bed and massaging my temples. Tears begin to well up in my eyes. "I have to talk to someone." Realisation hits me. I wrack my brains, who can I call. Finn will be with Quinn and I'm not exactly her favourite person in the world. Kurt and Mercedes would start gossiping and I'm not as close to Tina and Artie. I finally decide who to call, pick up my cell phone and dial.

"Hello." Came the familiar male voice.

"I need to talk to you." I manage through the tears that have begun to fall again.

"Rach? Are you okay?" He asks concerned.

"No. Please come." I whisper.

"Where are you?" He asks his voice unusually soft.

"Home, room." I mutter.

"Window?" I hear him chuckle, amused.

"I'll open it for you." I confirm, the tears start to subside.

"I'll be there soon." He promises before hanging up.

I sigh and heave myself up from the bed and wander over to my mirror. God I look awful. My eyes are red and puffy, my face is streaked with black mascara but I honestly don't care. I cross over to the window and push it open just wide enough for a person to climb through before flopping back down on my bed. I roll onto my side, facing away from the window and wrap my arms around my torso. I don't know how I feel about this, do I want a baby? I just feel lost, I want to cry but the tears wont come so I simply shut my eyes and lie still in the silence. Suddenly I feel soft, strong arms wrap around me. "Hey." He says and presses a gentle kiss to the back of my head. I immediately relax, feeling completely safe in his arms.

"Hey." I whisper back and cover his arms with mine.

"I hate having to climb in the window." He comments.

I smile my first genuine smile of the day. "My dad's hate you Noah."

"Not my fault." He countered.

I can't help but grin again. "Then whose fault is it?" I ask and I feel him shrug against me.

Puck takes one of my hands in his. "Rach, what's up? You sounded like you were crying on the phone."

I frown and begin to chew my bottom lip anxiously.

"Rachel?" He asks concerned.

"I'm pregnant." I mumble quietly.

"What?" He sounds surprisingly calm.

I swivel around in his arms to face him and wrap my own arms around his waist. "I'm pregnant." I repeat.

"Shit Berry." He responds. "I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."

I knew this was going to come up sooner rather than later. As soon as people find out I'm pregnant there is going to be speculation about who the father is. I think people will presume one of the boys in Glee Club is the father. And while technically he is a part of Glee, he's hardly a boy.

"Rach?" Puck breaks me out of my inner monologue.

"Sorry." I flash him a brief smile and snuggle closer to him, resting my head against his shoulder. "I have been seeing someone, but I didn't want anyone to know." I admit quietly.

Puck begins to play gently with the ends of my long hair; he's being unusually kind to me. "No pressure Rach," He whispers, "Who's the father?"

I take a deep breath. What to do? Confide in Puck and pray he keeps his mouth shut? Or do I simply tell him that I can't possibly tell him who the dad is, because I shouldn't really have slept with him in the first place?

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" He comes to the conclusion on his own.

I sigh loudly for the umpteenth time today. "I'm sorry Noah. Part of me wants to tell you, but part of me is screaming not to tell you. It's not that I don't trust you, because I do! It's just that the father is someone I really shouldn't have been sleeping with and I don't want to let the cat out of the bag before I've told him. It's really nothing to do with you." I reiterate. The last thing I want to do is hurt his feelings. "Please tell me that you understand?" I beg him, me eyes pleading, Truth be told I probably look slightly deranged. But at the moment Puck is the only person I have, and I need him to tell me it's all going to be okay.

"I understand." He tells me and I immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"You've no idea how much of a relief it is to hear you say that." I blurt out, causing him to grin.

"I'll always be here for you Rachel." Puck said and he begins rubbing soothing circles on the small of my back. I shift myself a little in our embrace to gaze into his eyes, he's telling the truth. I hug myself close to Puck again and he continues to rub soft circles on my back with his fingertips.

"Thanks." I mumble, I find myself smiling into his chest.

"When are you going to tell the dad?" He enquires.

I pause, taking a moment to comprehend his question. "Tomorrow." I decide.

"Tomorrow?" He asked sceptically.

"Tomorrow." I confirm as I completely relax against him, closing my eyes.

"When are you going to tell _your _dad's?" His next question opens up a whole new can of worms.

"I don't know." I answer honestly. "I need to talk to my baby's father first, see how he feels about this, what he wants to do."

"Okay." I feel Puck nod; he seems to accept my answer.

"Noah?" I ask softly.

"Rachel?" He responds.

"Can you stay with me tonight, please?" I don't want, or mean, to sound desperate, but I really can't bear the thought of being alone tonight.

"Sure babe." He agreed, placing a kiss on top of my head.

"Thank you." I whisper in return, completely grateful he's agreed to stay.

"Anytime Berry." He informs me casually.

"You know I actually like it when you call me Berry." I tell him, betting that he didn't know that.

"Really?" He asks slightly amused.

"Do I detect sarcasm in your tone Noah?" I raise my eyebrow at him; the way I know turns him on.

"I dunno. Do you?" He turns my question back on me, trying to act non-chalant at my raised eyebrow.

"You're unbelievable!" I can't help but emit a soft laugh.

"I know." He agrees casually with a cheeky grin. "Come on I need to sort you out." Puck tells me as he manoeuvres me into his arms, standing up and taking me with him.

"Noah!" I hiss, horrified that he thinks he can take advantage of me in my current vulnerable state.

"Trust you to take that the wrong way Berry!" He bites back. "That wasn't a sexual suggestion; I meant I was going to run you a bath. Help you get cleaned up and ready for bed." He explains, trying to sound calm.

"Oh!" I gasp softly. Now I feel like an idiot! "Sorry." I reply sheepishly.

"Your room has an ensuite right?" He gazes into my eyes, his look gentle, he appears to have let go of my mistake from moments earlier.

I nod and point to a door at the other end of my room which is when I realise he's still carrying me. Like I weigh no more than a newborn baby.

Baby. A huge lump begins to form in my throat and I feel tears spring to my eyes.

"Rach, there isn't anything we can do about it just now. It's late." Puck reminds me.

"Bath sounds good." I manage to croak.

"Okay, bath it is." He says and carries me through to my bathroom. He places me gently on the cold tiled floor and begins to run me a bath, pouring a generous measure of my lavender bubble bath into the hot water.

"We cannot let my dad's find out you're here." I stress as I roughly rub away the tears, unable to make my mind up whether I want to cry or not.

"I kind of got that when I climbed through the window." Puck replied quietly.

"Sorry." I mutter, dropping my gaze to the floor.

"Why did you call me Rachel?" He asks suddenly. "Of all the people you could have called?" He looks so confused.

"Because," I begin shakily. "You're my friend, I trust you completely, and I knew you wouldn't judge me." I reply honestly.

"I thought maybe you called me because I was the only person that would come." He confessed softly.

His confession broke my heart. "Noah, I called you because you were the only person I wanted to come, the only person I wanted to talk to. I could lose everything because of this baby" I touch my hand briefly to my stomach. "I can't afford to lose the guy I consider to be one of my closest friends." I finish in a whisper.

Puck moves away from the bath and kneels in front of me. "I already told you Rach, I'll always be here for you. I meant it." He tells me before taking me in his arms. "I'll even pretend to be your baby daddy." He offered as he held me.

"Thanks Noah, but that won't be necessary." I promise him and press a soft kiss to his cheek as we separate.

"You know Rachel" He begins as he goes back to fixing my bath. "I say this to a lot of girls, but with you, I mean it. I love you."

"I love you too. And I', so glad you're here." I inform his enthusiastically.

"Bath's ready." He clears his throat. I think he's a little embarrassed that he admitted he loves me.

"Okay." I smile. Puck comes back over to me and gently teases the bottom of my blouse out of my skirt and begins to undo the buttons.

"Noah!" I gasp, shocked that he is undressing me.

"Chill Rach. I've seen your underwear before." He informs me as he pushes my blouse away from my body.

"When?" I ask warily.

"Every time you bend over." He replies casually. I stare at him open mouthed. "Honestly, your skirts couldn't be any shorter." He slides my skirt off too, followed by my socks.

"Noah." I mutter, embarrassed that he is seeing me so naked.

"Seriously Rach I've seen chicks in their underwear before." He couldn't help but grin though, Rachel had an amazing figure. "Okay, here we go." Puck carefully lifts me up and places me in the bath, still in my underwear.

"Is the water too warm?" He asks gently.

"It's perfect." I reply with a smile.

"Cool." He whips his t-shirt off in one fluid movement, revealing his unbelievably perfect abs.

"What are you doing?" I ask with a frown.

"Coming in beside you." He informs me; cool as ice as he slides off his jeans. I sigh. There's no point in telling him not to, he'll never listen. So he climbs into the bath behind me, positions his long legs on either side of my body and motions for me to lean back against his body. I comply and lean back against him, feeling surprisingly comfortable and relaxed.

"You're amazing." I tell him as we both relax in the hot bubbly water.

"I know." He replies confidently as he wraps his arms around my bare waist. I work hard to suppress a snort that escapes anyway. We lie in the bath for about fifteen minutes in a comfortable silence when suddenly there is a loud knock at my door.

"Rachel honey? Are you okay, we've hardly seen you all night?" I freeze against Puck, it's my dad. I feel him give my waist a gentle squeeze where his hand is rested and I come back to life.

"I'm fine dad. I'm in the bath I just want to chill out and have an early night." I tell him casually. I'm an actress, I can almost always convince my dad's that I'm okay when I'm really not.

"Alright. Goodnight Rach." He replies.

"Night Dad." I relax again in Puck's arms. "That was close." I mutter to him.

Unknown to Rachel, Puck frowned. 'If she's this worried about her dad's finding me in her room, how are they going to react to her pregnancy?' He thought anxiously.

"Puck?" I ask gently, his silence slightly freaking me out.

"Want me to wash your hair?" He asks me. Unusual question, I'm just glad he's acknowledging me after my Dad almost walked into our cosy little scene which they would have most definitely taken the wrong way.

"Um, okay." And so he washes my hair, his fingers working their way gently through the long lengths of my hair. He conditions it also with the same gentle movements. He rinses my hair carefully and then gets out of the bath. He pats the water away from his toned body with a towel and I avert my eyes as he removes his wet boxer shorts and slides his jeans back on.

Once he is decent he helps me out of the bath and wraps a thick fluffy towel around me before draining the bath. Reaching underneath my towel he unclips my wet white bra and removes it from my body, then slides my matching panties down my toned legs.

Puck smirked. "Didn't anyone tell you Rach that only virgins wear white underwear?" He asks me playfully.

The irony is not lost on me so I can't help but grin back. "Liar." I retort.

"Have it your way." He continues to grin as he dresses me in his t-shirt, pulling it down over the towel. His t-shirt falls past my ass so I let the towel fall away from my body and use it to rough dry my hair.

We go back into my bedroom and before sitting down in front of my mirror I put on a fresh pair of panties. Black this time hoping these will not say anything about my virginity, or lack thereof. When I do sit down in front of my mirror to fix my hair Puck picks up my hairbrush, brushing it softly and sending shivers down my spine.

"You still have your make up on." He reminds me softly as he places my hairbrush down.

'Shit!' I catch my reflection in the mirror and I'm indeed still covered in mascara. "I'll be right back." I excuse myself quietly and dash back into the bathroom. I hear Noah snort as I close the door and I imagine my run to the bathroom must have looked a little undignified. I shrug it off; reminding myself things can't get any worse! I clean off my make up and once I have gone through my usual skincare routine I join Noah back in my bedroom.

"Hey." He smiles, I smile back. "You look a lot better."

"Thanks, I feel better. But that's mostly down to you; I really appreciate you coming over like this.

"Come to bed Rach." He beckons softly. "Things will seem better in the morning."

I know he's right so go cross to my bed and slip under the covers. He switches the lights out and joins me moments later, his strong arms wrapping around me once more.

"Night Berry," He says into the darkness, oozing his usual confidence.

"Night Puckerman." I reply and eventually we drift off to sleep in each others arms.


	2. 3 Weeks, 1 Day

At The End of the Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the characters, only the plot of this story.

AN: Thank you so much for the response this story has had I'm so overwhelmed! Thank you so so much to every single person who has reviewed, added this story to their story alert/fav story, it means so much to me! So here's chapter two, sorry for the wait things are a bit hectic with uni, hope you enjoy it and as usual constructive criticism welcome! x

Chapter 2 – 3 Weeks, 1 Day

I awake early, sunlight is streaming in the window and I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I am still lying in Puck's arms, our arms and legs laced together. I feel no guilt at all in the fact I am in such close proximity to him, because we simply do not feel that way about each other.

I gaze at my clock over Puck's shoulder. It's _very_ early. I debate over going back to sleep but I find even though I am moiré composed than I was yesterday, there are simply too many thoughts running through my head. The one thing I am sure of, however, is that I'm definitely telling the father today. I vow to myself, and the child I'm carrying, that I will tell the father before the clock strikes midnight.

Another thing that seems to have become apparent from last night is that I physically cannot abort this child. I think it would send me over the edge. So I'm either going to keep the baby or put it up for adoption, I feel that this is something for me to discuss with the father, after all, this is his baby too. In the wake of all this, I no longer feel like a sixteen year old anymore whose whole life revolves around Glee Club. But then I guess it's no more than I deserve for getting romantically involved with an adult at such a young age. I have made my bed, and for the next nine months at least, I must let sleeping dogs lie.

"Rachel?" Puck takes one hand away from my waist and gently brushes my long hair away from my face.

"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you." I whisper softly.

"You didn't." He assures me. "How do you feel?" He asks concerned.

"I'm actually okay." I inform him. "Really." I reiterate with a soft laugh as a surprised expression crosses his face.

"I need to get home before my Mom wakes up and realises I'm gone." He tells me, still looking concerned.

"Yes, you should go." I nod in agreement. I don't want to get you into trouble."

"You're really okay?" He questions again.

"Yes, yes, yes." I emphasise. "Besides you're going to see me at school in like three hours." I add with a small smile.

"Okay." He smiles. "I'll see you later."

"I'll let you out the front door; my dad's won't be up yet." I glance quickly at the clock again.

"Thanks Rach." He says as he pulls his left shoe on. I swing out of bed and take his hand, we head downstairs quietly and I whisper instructions to him under my breath so he misses the creaky stairs. I unlock the door for him.

"Bye beautiful." He presses a long, lingering kiss to my forehead. He opens the door and starts to walk away.

I walk out into my garden, praying my neighbours are still in bed. "What about you're t-shirt?" I call to him, plucking gently at the t-shirt I am still wearing.

"Keep it." He turns around briefly and flashes me a smile and gives a wink in my direction before continuing to strut down the street, evidently proud of his sculpted to perfection naked torso.

I shake my head grinning and go back inside, locking the door behind me before going back up to my bedroom. Once back in my room I retrieve my cell phone from where I had abandoned it the night before. I have one unread text, from Puck.

"_Are you absolutely sure you're okay? x" _I roll my eyes and smirk as I text him back.

"_Noah you worry too much! I'll see you later x" _I don't know if I can take nine months of his worrying.

I start to type a new text. _"Are you going to be in school early today? I really have to talk to you! R x" _I never put my full name in the texts I send to Will, through fear his wife will find out he is seeing someone else.

My cell vibrates in my hand. I can't believe he's text me back so quickly. _"Hey, couldn't sleep. Probs be in school at 6.45, meet me in the choir room, W x"_

Being at school for 6.45 gives me plenty of time to get ready and it's only a fifteen minute drive to school, so I can get ready at a leisurely pace. I sit my cell phone on the edge of my bed and wander into the bathroom. First I brush my teeth and floss, and then I go through my morning skincare routine. As I study my face in the mirror I observe that I look a lot paler than I usually do and while Puck and I know what is behind it I would rather no one else notice that I look unwell.

I go back into my bedroom and sit down at my mirror, plug in my curling tongs and wait for them to heat up. Currently my hair is naturally wavy, sort of bed head look, and I figure I'll just curl the ends, it will still look nice. Once I have finished doing my hair I unplug my tongs and begin to do my make-up, applying black mascara to my long eyelashes, sweeping on bronzer after applying my foundation and a peachy blush on the apples of my cheeks.

Opening my wardrobe I select a plain sundress and a white blouse with short puffy sleeves to wear. I pair my chosen outfit with grey woolly tights and black pumps. I wander down to the kitchen, searching through the cupboards I decide that I don't feel like eating anything and opt for a cup of tea instead, and unnecessarily adding spoonful after spoonful of sugar. I down the last of my horribly sweet tea and scribble a quick note to my Dad's, inventing an early morning breakfast with Finn as my excuse.

I grab my bag and a cardigan on my way out of the door and drop my keys into my bag. The cool morning air hits my face the minute I get outside and it feels incredibly refreshing and calming.

I unlock my car, a cute little mini from the sixties, tossing my bag in the back of the car before getting into the drivers seat and pulling away from the house.

The roads are quiet since it's still early and I find myself driving along slowly as I contemplate the possible dialogues that could occur between me and Will when I tell him about the baby. In my head I can picture him being happy about my news, grinning and sweeping me off my feet, tears of joy springing to his eyes. I can picture him furious, demanding that I have an abortion, me sitting there in tears. And finally I can picture him being worried that he's gotten me pregnant and worried that anyone will find out he's the father.

Too be honest I feel more sorry for Will than I do for myself. We are both in this difficult situation, but he has more to lose; his wife, Glee Club, his job and potentially, the chance to be a father to his child. I chew my bottom lip anxiously, realising I have drawn blood when the horrible taste of iron hits my tongue. I feel my stomach lurch and wish I'd decided to have something to eat. If only Will and I were a normal couple then he could take me out for breakfast. I smile sadly, since that is just the nature of our relationship.

I pull into the school car park and deliberately park my car far away from where Will's is parked. There are a few other cars scattered around the car park, which must belong to the cleaners and the Janitors.

Once, when I was very small, I used to think that all the teachers lived in the school, now I grin at my own stupidity. I hoist my bag over my shoulder, lock the car and walk up to the school, crossing my fingers behind my back and praying that we won't be interrupted.

When I reach the choir room Will is standing with his back to me, I lean against the door frame and gaze at him. He is _so _gorgeous, he could be a model. His curly brown hair, his strong arms and my God there cannot be another ass in this world that looks so perfect in a pair of jeans. As I start admiring Will's body he turns round and notices me standing there.

"Hey Rach!" He smiles brightly as he walks towards me.

Will's smile makes me light up every time I see it. "Hi." I smile back.

"Come see the new sheet music I have for Glee." He catches my hand and pulls me towards the piano, which has sheet music piled on top of it.

Normally, he wouldn't have to ask me twice to come and look at new sheet music, I would bound over to the piano and we could both pour over it for hours. But today I have bigger issues that need to be discussed.

"Later Will." I tell him as we come to a halt beside the piano. "I have something that I need to talk to you about, it's very important." I stare into his eyes, trying to convey the urgency of the situation. It's obviously worked as he's gazing at me with a concerned expression on his face.

"Rachel, are you okay?" He asks gently as he cups my face in his hands.

I take a few moments to consider his question. Yes, I suppose I'm okay physically. But mentally, I'm really not sure. "I don't know." I whisper pathetically. A tear begins to fall down my cheek and I mentally beat myself up for allowing myself to cry in front of him.

"Hey! Don't cry!" He tells me softly, sweeping away the tear away from my cheek with his thumb. "Rach you know I care about you and you can tell me anything in confidence. Take a deep breath, and pretend you're ripping off a band aid, quick and painless."

Oh Will, it will be quick but far from painless. But nonetheless I take his advice, taking in deep breaths before proceeding to tell him. "I'm pregnant Will." I inhale another deep breath as soon as I've finished the sentence.

His face falls. "Deep breaths." I remind him softly, resting my hands gently on his shoulders. I wait patiently whilst he takes a few deep breaths and push him gently down onto the stool behind the piano, crossing my arms gently across my body.

"Is it, is it….." He puts his hand on his chest. He looks so shocked.

"Yes. I've never slept with anyone else." I assure him quietly. He nods in response, looking more thoughtful now rather than shocked.

"Will, please say something." I feel quite scared; I thought he would have given me some indication of how he is feeling by now. "Will?" I whisper fearfully.

He rests one hand softly on my stomach. "How do you feel about this?" He asks, seeming to have gained the power of speech once more.

"Please don't make me have an abortion." I beg, believing this could end up as the second scenario I pictured earlier.

"Rachel!" He gasps. "I would _never _make you do that." He emphasises and pulls me into a gentle hug.

"I don't know what to do. I thought we could make a decision together, but I can't face having an abortion." I confess as I cling to him, clutching at his shirt with my hands.

"I promise I'll help you as much as I can. But you know I've got some other stuff going on too that's kind of going to interfere with us." I frown; I don't like it when he's being this cryptic.

"What's wrong?" I enquire as we separate from our hug.

Will sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "This is going to be really hard on you Rach," He warns, looking both anxious and concerned at the same time.

"Will please tell me you're freaking me out." I hear the panic in my voice and wonder if my relationship with Will is making me slightly neurotic.

"I've been considering leaving Terri." He admits quietly.

"My heart skips a beat." You're leaving her for me" I ask, hoping that it's not too good to be true.

"Essentially, yes. You know we can't be open about our relationship but I would only be seeing you. But I can't break up with Terri, I'm sorry Rachel."

Tears are welling up in my eyes again. "Why?" I ask breathlessly.

"Terri's pregnant." And with those two words I can feel my whole world falling apart. I stand in front of Will, suddenly rendered speechless, thick fast tears falling down my cheeks.

"Rachel? Rachel?" He tries to elicit a response.

"This is not happening! This _cant _be happening!" I yell through my tears.

"Rachel I'm so sorry." Will sounds upset too as his voice cracks.

"Don't! You've broken my heart! I loved you, I loved you!" Now everything feels ten times worse because Will won't be behind me, he'll never leave his pregnant wife for his sixteen year old pregnant mistress.

"Rachel." He whispers softly and places a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't fucking touch me!" I scream as loud as I can, pushing his hand away.

"Rachel, calm down. Let's discuss this like mature adults." He tries to reason with me.

"Okay you want to be mature, why were you having unprotected sex with her?" I stand angrily in front of him, hands on hips. I'm so pissed off at him.

"She's my wife Rachel."

"Don't give me that crap Will you've been sleeping with me too!"

"Yes, and we were using contraception and you've still ended up pregnant. Contraception doesn't always work." He's right, I know he is. And I've just ended up with the raw end of the deal, tough shit Rachel!

"I'm sorry. I, I…." I laugh nervously. "I'll figure something out Will; I know you'll never leave your wife."

"If she wasn't pregnant Rachel you know I'd be there for you." He takes my hand, I font push him away.

I brush away the tears from my cheeks with my free hand. "I know. I understand Will I'm not a baby."

"I know Rach." He rubs his thumb across the back of my hand.

"I have to go." I pull away from him, suddenly uncomfortable at how intimate we are being. We've broken up, that's perfectly clear. I grab my bag from where I had discarded it earlier; I pull it over my shoulder. "I'll see you in Spanish." I call back as I bolt out of the choir room, fresh tears in my eyes.

I rush down the corridor, keeping my head down so that no one can see me crying. I head for my locker and just before I reach it I bang hard into someone and I lurch backwards. "Sorry." I mumble as I regain my balance.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Asks a concerned voice.

My head snaps up. "Puck!" I gasp. He pulls me into his arms and holds me tight. Thanks God I have him.


	3. 6 Weeks

At The End of the Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the characters, only the plot of this story.

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, added the story to their favourites, added me to their authors alerts etc, thanks so much for your support of this story. Here's chapter three, hope you enjoy it, please R&R.

Chapter 3 – 6 Weeks

'_Dear Diary,_

_It has been about three weeks since I found out I am pregnant and my world came crashing down around me. I've been avoiding Will as much as possible since I told him about my pregnancy. I haven't been to Glee practice at all these past few weeks and during Spanish I nurse a vacant expression. Will never makes eye contact with me and I am the first to bolt out of the class whenever the bell rings. Yes, this may be suspicious but prior to my affair with Will we always had huge bust ups over Glee so I don't think anyone has given my strange behaviour now a second thought. My absence from Glee has just added fuel to the fire of gossip that we've had another bust up. This suits me just fine; I am in no position to be drawing attention to myself right now._

_I'm still no closer to telling my dad's about my pregnancy, the only two living souls that know my secret are Puck, who is my best friend, and Will, my teacher and my baby's father. He has been avoiding me as far as possible too. I cannot get a clean break from him, but he's making it easier with his clever avoidance strategies. He always was very chivalrous._

_Puck has been amazing too. He is my pillar of strength. Like last week after I got home from school on Wednesday he dropped by and gave me a copy of the pregnancy book I had really wanted but was too scared to buy._

"_It's nothing babe." He told me casually as he handed over the book and I flung my arms around him in gratitude._

_I don't know where I'd be without him; he keeps me sane through all of this. Although he doesn't know who the father is, he knows that I'm alone in this. He keeps asking me once I am comfortable telling people about the baby, that I should tell them that he is the child's father._

"_It will be good for my bad reputation." He continually assures me._

_Every time I smile, thank him, and tell him that it's totally unnecessary._

_Quinn was looking at me funny today when I was getting books from my locker. She either knows my secret or is pretty close to working it out. I really have to tell my dad's before someone else figures out the whole thing and tells them for me!'_

I put down my pen and close my diary, replacing it in the drawer I keep it in.

Switching on my IPod speakers I scroll through my IPod and select the Wicked Soundtrack, turning it up as loud as I possibly can without my dad's yelling at me.

I pull my Spanish books out of my school bag and begin to attempt the homework task. My Spanish grades have gotten steadily worse these last few weeks, since I have been switching off and desperately trying to ignore Will. Frankly it is a miracle I even managed to make a note of the task.

Teats begin to drip down my face for the umpteenth time and land on the paper of my Spanish jotter, expanding and making messy water blots. I've been crying more and more the last couple of days, especially when my thoughts linger on Will for too long.

"Rachel, Noah is here!" One of my dad's calls upstairs.

"Tell him to come up!" I yell back, hastily wiping my tears away with the back of my hand. I finally managed to persuade him last week to come to the front door as opposed to the window, promising my dad's would be perfectly civil if they answered the door.

"Oh babe, what's the matter?" He asks as he enters my room, crossing over to me and cupping my face in his big, warm, gentle hands.

"I'm failing Spanish." I mutter, glancing down at my books.

"Rach?" He questions softly.

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Mr Schue is your baby's father isn't he?" He asks; face completely straight, serious even.

I nod slowly. "How did you know?" I whisper, our eyes not leaving each others.

"You never listen to him in Spanish any more, always the first out of the class, you haven't been to Glee since you found out about the baby. I'm your best friend Rach, we're close enough that I managed to put two and two together." He said softly, honestly, trying to brush the tears away from my eyes using his thumbs.

"I'm such an idiot!" I sob loudly and I feel Puck pull me close to his chest.

"Sshh." He tries to soothe me, gently stroking through the lengths of my hair.

"You think I'm a slut." A statement, not a question that I mutter into his chest.

"Everyone makes mistakes Rachel." He continues to stroke my hair. "I don't hate you, I could never hate you." Puck emphasises and presses a kiss to the top of my head.

"Do you want some help with the Spanish homework?" He murmurs into my hair.

A soft giggle emits from my throat. "I would love some help with the Spanish homework!"

"Okay." He smiles, walking round my bed to turn down my music. He glances back over to me. "I love you Rach."

"I love you too." I grin and we sit down on my bed. "Are you any good at Spanish?" I question softly as he picks up my textbook.

"Well I've been paying more attention than you the last few weeks so I'll know enough to help you finish it." He smiles warmly and tucks a long strand of hair behind my ear.

"Have you done it yet?" I frown.

"I'll do it in the morning." He shrugs it off. Typical Puck.

"You need to keep up your grades to play football Noah!" I exclaim. I don't want to be responsible for him getting thrown off the football team.

"Trust you to keep nagging me even when you're going through a crisis." He smirked. "Honestly Rachel, I'm good. I'm here for you; I'll go home and do it before I go to bed. We need to get your grades back up before the school notices something is wrong.

"I guess you're right, as long as you still have time to get it done." I place my hand over his and squeeze it gently.

"You need to look after numero uno now." He tells me.

"I can spare a little thought to look after my best friend." I whisper softly.

"You've got a heart of gold Rachel Berry." Puck smiles sweetly.

"So do you." I smile back. "And I'll never be able to repay you for looking after me like this."

"What are best friends for Rach?" He says simply. I smile. "Let's get this homework done babe. Do you need any help with your other subjects?"

"No. I pay attention in my other classes." I assure him, grinning.

"Okay." He pulls my textbook across my bed closer to us. "What you have to do is read this passage here and some of the verbs are in the wrong tense. You have to write out the passage, changing the verbs into the correct tense." He explains, pointing to the passage in the textbook.

"I'm not great with the different verb tenses." I frown. "Did we learn any new ones the last few weeks?"

"Not that I can remember. Do you have all your notes in this jotter?" He picks it up and has a quick flick through it.

"Pretty much." I nod.

"We should be able to figure it out from your notes then, it might take while though." Puck frowns.

"I don't mind. I really appreciate you helping me with this." I inform him with my sweetest smile.

"Happy to help Rach." He grins and winks at me.

Almost an hour and a half later we finish writing out the passage hopefully having changed the verbs into the correct tense.

"Rach I know you're hurting about Mr Schue and you can talk to me about it if you need to but you need to start paying attention in Spanish, you don't want your grades to keep slipping." He looks concerned for me, I love him for that.

"I know, I promise I'll try harder." I tell him seriously.

"Everyone at Glee misses you too. And I mean everyone." He emphasises.

'They miss my talent!' I think to myself, but choose not to vocalise it. "One step at a time." I smile weakly.

"Okay, I understand." He takes my hand and squeezes it softly.

"You should take my Spanish jotter and copy the homework, it was a joint effort." I offer him my jotter.

"Thanks." Puck takes the jotter from me. "I should get going before your dad's yell at me for staying too late."

"No problem." I smile. "Thanks so much for everything Noah, the homework, the shoulder to cry on…"

"You mean a lot to me Rachel; you'll always have me in your life."

"Goodnight." I smile and give him a gentle hug.

He wraps his arms around me. "Sleep well babe." He dips his head and presses a kiss to my cheek and is gone.


End file.
